Is Your Home Smart Enough?

This entry was posted on June 13, 2013 by Scott Pendlebury.

At this day and age, things that used to take hours to accomplish gets done in minutes. Dinner gets prepared and served in 15 minutes instead of an hour; a hot cocoa in minutes via instant powder drinks instead of waiting for hours while patiently melting chocolate.

You talk to friends, hear their voices, and see their faces even if they live miles away with the use of video chat.

When it comes to innovation, not only humans have been developed.

Your abode has also been designed to be up to speed. Most homeowners make their homes smart not only for convenience and comfort, but also to save time, money and energy. Appliances are remote controlled, some even respond to voice commands, touch like touch lamps, and motion sensors like in taps and lights.

Yes, everything is nice and "futuristic" but have we actually invested in technology that would matter or be vital to the safety and ease of our family? After all, they are what the house should be primarily caring for.

So with your current setup, presumably everything works the way you want it to, you may have a home automation system that allows you to turn on appliances, control entertainment systems, manage your home’s security system, and adjust everything from lighting to heating to air conditioning remotely via the Internet.

Let’s see how smart your home is by having you answer these yes-or-no questions. Keep track of your answers to score your home’s genius level at the end.

2. Turn off the lights and appliances you forgot to turn off before you left your home?

3. Arm your security system before you go to sleep?

4. Remotely unlock the doors of your home to grant entry to service people and other visitors without having to give them your key or be home to open the door yourself?

5. Remotely lock the doors while you are miles away?

6. Automatically capture video when a pre-determined event such as a door or window opening triggers an alert?

7. Automatically turn on a light in the hallway when you open the front door or the door from your garage?

8. Automatically close the shades when the sun hits?

9. Watch a movie at home without having to adjust the lights, sound and picture every time?

10. Heat up your spa, dim the lights and turn on your favorite music?

Count the number of times you answered yes to the questions above.

Here’s your home’s level of genius:

10 = Genius

9 = Highly gifted

8 = Gifted

7 = Above average

6 = Average

5 or below = Below average

Just remember, technology is supposed to be an aide for comfort and primarilly to make sure that your family's safe and secure. For safety, consider keyless locks that gives you access control on who enters your abode. There are taps and lights that are WELS certified and IP66 rated, therefore helps you lower your home’s energy consumption without sacrificing comfort.

Congratulations if your home is smart enough. If not, the good news is that you’re smart enough to raise your home’s security and safety IQ.